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A concern we often hear from physicians who hesitate to adopt online imaging access is that their older patients won't be comfortable with digital healthcare tools. In reality, seniors are more engaged with digital devices than ever before thanks to the vast health, social, and safety benefits that these tools offer. An app will actually make it easier for your patients to keep track of their imaging and share their images with their healthcare provider team.

The short answer: YES! Health apps are increasingly becoming an integral part of healthcare, and luckily medical imaging is no exception. Today, patients use apps for everything from tracking their nutrition and exercise to making sure they take their medication on time. Now they can also easily access and share their medical images from the Patient Access app on their smartphones and tablets!

How many times have you been glued to your phone or laptop, tracking an important package as it travels from the original location, through each stop, until it finally makes it to your door? You may have even made a point to be home all day in order to sign for it. Perhaps this package contained the newest iPhone, a Christmas gift you didn't want unknowingly intercepted by the intended recipient, or another valuable item you don't want stolen off of your front porch or lost in transit. Waiting for that package can feel like time is moving backwards. Imagine how your patients feel, already anxious about their medical issue, as they wait for a CD copy of their x-ray or CT scan to arrive by mail. There has to be a better way to deliver imaging to patients. In fact, there is.. and it doesn't have to cost your practice a dime.

Patients know the digital trend is slowly but surely finding its way into the healthcare system. They now expect that every doctor’s appointment will end with a reminder to login to their provider’s Patient Portal, giving them access to view blood test results, basic physician’s notes and even the option to schedule another appointment or send their doctor a direct message. One key piece of information is often missing from this patient-facing platform: their medical images. 

Remember when transferring medical images meant giving a patient physical film? 

Medical images on film were physically carried when needed in another location for a second opinion or other medical attention. The patient or referring physician held the responsibility of returning the images to their originating location once they were no longer needed. This process was revolutionized by the compact disc (CD). A single disc could hold copies of multiple imaging studies, meaning the images didn’t have to be returned to the originating provider. The CD could be shared or transferred by mail or hand-delivery and another copy could be made, if needed. 

But today, CDs are a burden, rather than a blessing. They require expensive materials, labor and precious time, when a cloud-based alternative achieves the same purpose for a lower cost and less effort. It’s no question: CDs are obsolete in medical imaging.